At The End of Darkness (M)
by MLEo.o
Summary: After all the years of hunting Naruto finally captures Sasuke and brings him back, but that... is only the beginning. Rated (M) (Not all sections, but likely) Pairings to be determined. May contain sensitive material. Do not read if you are not comfortable with all pairing types.
1. Chapter 1: Captured Shadows

Gently the wind blew across the still pale form, skin unaware of that slightly chill wind's tender touch. The wind was not detoured. It caressed along the edge of fingers curved, up the line of a milk-colored and muscular arm, across an expanse of smooth chest. Finally it touched lightly upon coal-black hair before flitting away. How could he not look down at that still form? How could he not want to reach down with trembling and hesitant fingers to feel... if warmth still lingered there? Finally he could not bear it any longer, with tears trembling along the edge of his eyes he knelt at the side of the man who had once been his companion, his friend, and always his rival.

He almost lost his breath when he felt the gentle rise of breath beneath his hand; the tale-tell motion of a heart beating against his palm. He closed his eyes for just a moment and a single tear escaped his eye.

"Sasuke..." The name was a mere whisper of relief, that the wind quickly stole away.

* * *

**26 Hours Earlier**

Angry, almost maniacal onyx eyes burned, flashing red in the darkness which surrounded them. Three fangs of darkness hovered in that crimson glow. Such anger, such intense loathing burned inside those red eyes that his opponent couldn't quite suppress the slight shudder that ran through his body. His sharingan made the tiny motion almost painfully obvious to him. He grinned, his lips stretching out across his face, teeth flashing wide and white.

"Have you finally realized the truth Nar-u-to?" His voice drew out the other's name, deep and mocking. Anger and sadness flickered across Naruto's face and vibrant blue eyes; it filled him with a sort of satisfaction. "Have you finally come to KILL me?"

"I will do what I have to do for Konoha." Naruto's chin had fallen, but when he looked up again his eyes were golden, the pupal elongated horizontally like that of a goat's. A red marking had appeared around his eyes, and the sight of that made Sasuke's blood rush.

"Then come on! Kill me if you can Naruto." There was a wild light in those crimson eyes as he concentrated; creating lightning made of chakra in the palm of his hand. It sounded like a thousand angry birds trapped by his fingers. "_Chidori!_" He spoke harshly and mostly to himself.

Then he was rushing across the surface of the river water, the very river that so long ago they had done battle across when they had been barely more than boys. Now his attack lit the night with bright white light, and his motions far more smooth and sure than that long past day when he had first considered killing his best friend.

Naruto's eyes were a little wide, his breath quickening as he formed the rasengan in his hand. For just a moment as they moved toward one another Sasuke had a moment of clarity. A moment where time slowed for him.

All those years ago he had been lying to Naruto, and to himself. Thinking that he wanted to kill Naruto, thinking that he COULD kill Naruto. It had been so hard seeing that boy grow up, growing from a kid who could barely tie his shoes into a young man equal to the challenge of being his rival. Realizing that he could by-pass him, when he had yet to even reach his brother. A brother growing ever further away from him in power. Imagine the indignity of it if Naruto had faced Itachi... And he would have. He would have done it thinking every moment he was doing him; Sasuke a favor. Using that Naruto charisma he would have tried to 'save' Itachi. While all he craved was revenge...

Rasengan met forcefully with Chidori, and the resulting explosion of power and light ripped through the air around them. He could feel Naruto's sadness in his blow, his ridged determination, and... The light blinded Naruto for just a second and Sasuke kicked out, sending Naruto into the wall of the waterfall.

The blonde-haired ninja caught himself on the rock wall which buckled only slightly under the pressure. His body blocked the flow of water, and granted him a perfect view of what Sasuke had been doing while he sailed through the air. Sasuke wasn't one to waste time, and he wanted this battle over. Needed it to be done with. His eyes resolved again, blackness spreading out into several long ovular forms. Behind him a massive form like a shadow began to take form; a rib cage forming protectively around him, then arms and a skull.

His head ached with the rush of power, his vision wavering ever so slightly, but he ignored it stubbornly. It felt as though his body was trying to tear itself apart, but he didn't care. "Naruto!" His voice was horse with pain and rage. He was perversely grateful.

Naruto was looking at the skeleton with shock. What could he do against that... that thing? He shook his head. He would do what he had to do. Chakra formed in his hand, not the rasengan, but the wind form of it; something far stronger. First he would see if this could crack that thing... if not..

Again the two collided, and again...

* * *

-MLE

I will actually note that though this is far from the first thing I have written, it is actually, perhaps surprisingly my first Fanfic; so I very much appreciate any notes on it. Eventually this Fic will have pairings, and if you aren't comfortable with all pairing types I wouldn't suggest getting to far into this. Also don't be surprised if there are some (even a lot) of fight scenes. Though I'm not entirely sure where this WILL end up in the end just yet.

Anyways, reviews please and thank you. Also as my final note since this is my first thing up on this site it hasn't been Beta'ed, but I did edit it for spelling and such so it should be readable =)


	2. Chapter 2: A Light in the Dark

He'd woken to darkness, and had been surprised to be waking at all. It was so dark that he couldn't see anything. There could have been a wall inches from him and he wouldn't have known. Beneath his bare feet he could feel cold stone. He could smell water somewhere, and the sharper scent of something salty. Colder chains bound his wrists and ankles, but he would have been free in a matter of moments, had not his chakra been bound away from him. He couldn't even activate his sharingan to try and pierce through this empty darkness that surrounded him.

Is this Hell? He couldn't help but wonder. Somehow he'd never imagined that Hell would be nothing more than emptiness and darkness; the knowledge that he was trapped and chained but unable to do anything about it. He'd already screamed himself half-horse for answers. Why was he alive? Where was he? And... Where was Naruto?

Now he was slumped in his chains, had been for some time now. Counting his heartbeats as a way to keep time. Eyes closed to a darkness that they could not pierce, listening, waiting for the sound of another living soul... waiting.

By the time he heard the sound he was waiting for it was to late, the pinprick of a needle was already darting into his flesh, followed by the hot rush of some drug.

"Who... where am I?" Even to his own ears his voice was weak, drowsy. Whoever it was, they didn't bother to answer, nor to catch him as he fell into sleep.

Two weeks, two weeks lost to darkness and nothing. Now and then someone came and flooded his body with drugs. Always inconsistently, and when he woke he found food and water waiting. Of course, the time was only an estimate. Two weeks before he woke from his drug-forced sleep to find light in his light-less world, and sadly, patiently Naruto.

He could see himself reflected in Naruto's eyes. Thinner than was natural, the dark harsh chains against his skin, and the harsh wounds that lay beneath him; because it just wasn't in his nature to take this silently. Just as the pain in his throat was equal proof of that. For a long time they merely looked at one another, until at last Sasuke could only shake his head and scoff at the tint of sorrow that marked Naruto's blue eyes.

"What now Naruto? Are you going to keep me locked up here forever?" His voice was harsh and ragged, his tone mocking. He could feel his face twisting into familiar arrogant hatred.

"Sasuke..." Naruto was surprised by the question, and hesitantly he shifted; he wanted to touch Sasuke. Make sure that he was alright. He looked so thin, so harsh in the dim light that Naruto had brought with him. Did he realize how much he looked like his brother? How frightening and full of anger?

"You should have killed me Naruto!" Now he was accusing. He strained against the chains that held him, they did not give even a little. He wasn't sure whether he wanted to reach Naruto or not. Finally he simply slumped.

Tears shone in Naruto's eyes, not falling, but making the blue of his eyes more blue. Sasuke hated it. Hated how vulnerable and... soft it made Naruto look. He shook his head wordlessly. It was obvious that he wanted to say something, but he turned away without a word. The light of the torch lit his blond hair so that it itself looked like fire.

"You can't leave me here Naruto!" The blond jerked and Sasuke knew without seeing that those tears had escaped Naruto's eyes. "How long Naruto? How long do you plan to leave me here?" The other man didn't answer, didn't turn, didn't move. He huddled into himself against the accusing tone of Sasuke's voice. "You can't leave me here forever Naruto!"

Suddenly Naruto broke, gabbing the torch and almost running. The sound of Sasuke's voice followed him. Calling, calling. Chasing after him long after the sound had faded and the light of day had reached his face. The light seemed too bright to him, the touch of the wind too cold. Tears were running down his face as he turned his face from that light.

"Naruto?"

He turned at the sound of his name, and was not entirely surprised to see Gaara standing there. Under normal circumstances he would have offered his friend a smile, but... with the sound of Sasuke's voice still echoing in his ears he couldn't quite manage it. "Gaara, what are you doing here?"

"I was told you might be here." Naruto could feel Gaara assessing him with his eyes, so he forced a smile onto his face.

"Well, here I am!" He said brightly, walking to Gaara's side. "Let me take you to get something to eat eh?"

"Did you see Sasuke?"

Naruto's smile fell, and he sighed. "Yea."

"..."

Gaara's silence made Naruto look up at him. Several different things floated though his mind to say, he stopped and started half a dozen times. In the end his hands fell to his sides, his eyes met Gaara's in familiar determination. It was almost like seeing the old Naruto again, a Naruto that hadn't been seen in a long time. "I finally brought him back Gaara, brought him back ALIVE if only just... I will not let him die now. I won't."

"Naruto..." There was worry in Gaara's voice, and perhaps... just a touch of anger.

"I know Gaara!" Naruto was close to anger suddenly. "I was there remember? I was there... But I won't let him die. Not after everything that's happened, not after everything that we've given up." He stalked off, leaving Gaara watching him. His offer of food long forgotten in the heat of his anger.

Gaara watched him leave, and lingered for just a little while longer. Seeing Naruto after all, had only been half his reason for coming. Sasuke was the other reason, the reason he'd come and the reason he stayed. He'd come here nearly every day since Sasuke's capture. Watching the raven-haired man after he'd been drugged, sometimes twice a day. Wondering... Striving to find the forgiveness that came seemingly so easy to Naruto.

The forgiveness to not kill Sasuke with his bare hands.

-MLE


	3. Chapter 3: Of Dark News

His hands were stuffed deep into his pockets as he strode a bit more calmly past the hospital. In retrospect, he'd been a bit harsh with Gaara, but... Even now with Sasuke finally home things felt off. Perhaps it was because he'd always almost childishly expected a single action to somehow make everything better. Truth was a much harsher reality. So Sasuke was home. Locked in some dark hole in the ground that Naruto wasn't sure he would ever be free of.

Suddenly he heard a commotion which drew his attention. There running toward the building were three medical ninja followed closely by a stretcher. Naruto's eyes widened at the sight of who they were carrying, and all thoughts of Gaara and Sasuke flew from his mind. He rushed toward the medical ninja, but they brushed him aside to watch as they hustled Neji into the building. Naruto felt vaguely ill. The Hyuga looked...

Naruto stumbled, something colliding with his back and he just barely managed to catch himself. Both he and the person who had bumped into him started to curse and get angry, only to quite as their eyes met blue to dark almost black brown.

"Kiba!" Naruto said in surprise. His friend looked as though he'd managed to find at least some of the trouble that had resulted in Neji's injuries. That or had gone wrestling with Akamaru; and it had ended badly. "What happened?"

Behind Kiba, Lee walked up. Like Naruto he'd only been in the area, but hearing that Neji had been injured he drew to hear Kiba's explanation. The young man looked near to tears, his eyes locked on the door to the hospital. He ran a hand through his hair uncomfortably. "Do you remember Hinata's sister Hanabi?"

Suddenly it seemed that Kiba couldn't quite speak and his two friends led him to a nearby bench to sit down. It was only then that Naruto realized that Kiba's arm was broken and held by a makeshift sling, that blood was pouring down his face, that his lip was swollen and that he probably should be in the hospital getting care himself. He knew he should force his friend into the care of the medical ninja, but it was more important to him right now that he know what was going on. "Take your time Kiba." He said it, but had to resist the temptation to shake the injured man.

"She was kidnapped." Kiba wasn't even speaking to them, he was speaking to the ground, his hands framed around his face. Voice ... dead. "On her first... ... mission... I was sent out to track her, but Neji insisted that he come with me." He looked up, tears streaming down his face. He grabbed a hold of Naruto's shirt, pulling the blond closer to him. "He fought so hard Naruto! We shouldn't have gone in but what were we suppose to do?"

"It's okay Kiba..." Naruto placed his hands on Kiba's shoulders, trying to calm his friend a little. That wild look in his eyes... He shouldn't have pushed for the information. Lee looked just as worried as he did; his eyes darting toward the hospital every few seconds. "Lets get you to the hospital okay?"

Kiba was crying again, something that Naruto hadn't ever seen before. Not like this. In the end he and Lee had to carry him into the hospital to be handed over the the medical ninja who were waiting for him. For a long time Naruto and Lee stood outside the surgery room, waiting for some sort of word on Neji's condition. Hours passed but they heard nothing. Naruto couldn't forget what Neji had looked like on that stretcher. So pale, blood soaking through every inch of his clothes which had been burned and singed; even the little of them that Naruto could see through the cloth that had been hastily been thrown over the man.

As long as he was alive, there was hope...

* * *

Tsunade stared at the report as though she wasn't seeing it at all. In truth she'd read it several times over. In fact, this particular sentence so many times that the image of it was burned into her mind whenever she closed her eyes. Which she did now, her hand covering her forehead and her eyes. It didn't make the words disappear. It didn't make the truth vanish. Tears managed to escape her eyes before she pushed the scroll off the table (along with most of her unfinished work) and rise to her feet resolutely.

Hyuga Hanabi was dead. The men who had kidnapped her were all dead, killed by Neji; except for two. The two who had so gravely injured Neji and Kiba. Tsunade didn't even want to think about the rest of the report. A little girl was dead, but she was damned if she was going to let Neji die too.

-MLE

For clarification (in case anyone is concerned) Akumaru is fine. He was carrying the mission details. Terribly sorry if I upset anyone by killing of Hanabi, it is somewhat central to some of the stuff that is going to go on later. It also sets the stage for the villains, and for how eventually Sasuke will find his freedom.


	4. Chapter 4: Blinded by the Light

Sixteen hours. Eventually even Naruto had returned home, leaving only Lee to watch anxiously waiting for the little red light above the surgery room to turn off. For anyone to come out and tell him SOMETHING. Strangely just after Naruto left Lee found himself no longer alone. Silently, with a calm face only slightly ruined by a slight redness around his eyes, Hyuuga Hiashi joined him. The man probably should have been home with his family mourning the loss of his daughter, yet he was here silently and patiently waiting with him. It was enough to make Lee pause in the one-thousand one hundred and fourteenth push-up he'd been doing. After the man's arrival Lee found himself simply sitting in the hall, it was... torture sitting there doing nothing while Neji battled for his life. In the end Lee broke the silence.

"...Hyuuga-san?" His tone was very respectful as he watched the man who's eyes turned toward him. The look in those eyes, the look of pain pushed aside, the look of quite anger and just a touch... of desperation. Lee's mouth went dry the words he might have spoken, the questions might have asked disappearing from his mind. Those pale empty eyes turned away from him again, and he breathed in relief.

"You are Rock Lee, Neji's teammate." There was no question in the words, but out of surprise Lee found himself nodding. Yet Hinata's father said nothing more and the silence began to stretch on endlessly for Lee at least who found himself rather uncomfortable in the presence of the intimidating leader of the Hyuuga clan.

Thankfully for the young man's sanity it was not long after that the red light disappeared causing his heart to leap in fear and expectation. Moments later several surgery assistants filed out, but Lee was waiting for someone in particular.

There she was! Just behind Tsunade he caught sight of Sakura, her short pink hair grown out now, looking every bit as lovely as the first time he'd seen her, and just like that time he couldn't help the sudden thudding of his heart pounding in his chest. He smiled automatically at the sight of her, and when Tsunade stopped to speak to them Sakura stopped just a half step behind her.

"How is Neji?" This was the deep voice of Hiashi Hyuuga. Steady as a rock and Tsunade turned toward him, tiredness touching her features.

"He is out of surgery now, but not out of danger. We sent him to recovery and it is looking good. The boy's a fighter." Tsunade sighed, glancing for just a moment at Lee before turning her attention back to the man who stood before her. "I think we can expect him to need at least one more surgery. Despite that I am hopeful he will make a full recovery. If you like you can meet him over in recovery, just don't be surprised if he remains unconscious for a while." The man nodded to her and turned heading toward the recovery room.

Lee hesitated, wanting to check in on Neji but also... He wanted to talk to Sakura as well.

"I will be taking my leave Lee, unless you had any questions?" He started almost guiltily at the sound of her voice.

"Yes! I mean... No Lady Tsunade!" He grinned at her and she nodded before heading off herself. Sakura made a small motion to follow after her, but Lee stopped her with a light touch on her arm, her name rising to his lips before he really considered what he might say to her. "Sakura...?"

Her eyes fell on his and though he wasn't aware of it his grip tightened just a little on her arm. Beautiful light green eyes just barely tinted by blue so that in the right lighting they looked like the sky. Just looking into those eyes made his heart race faster, but... Those wonderful eyes did not quite look at his, there was something vacant in their gaze, different as they had been for to long... She smiled at him and her eyes shined gently. "Yes Lee?"

"Ummm I was... I was just wondering how you were Sakura!" His last words were a little rushed. His heart was pounding so hard that he could hear it banging in his head.

A faint blush rose on her cheeks. "You don't have to keep asking me Lee, I'm doing fine." She smiled again, eyes turning in the direction that Tsunade had gone. "Actually, I don't think Neji will need another surgery. Things went very well. Lady Tsunade says that my chakara control... " She blushed again, than said in a near conspiratorial whisper, "Might be better than hers now."

"It's just... ... Naruto brought Sasuke back, and I was worried about you. And now Neji..." His dark eyes traced her face worriedly.

Suddenly a very firm expression crossed her face. "I told you when it first happened. I don't care what happens with him anymore Lee. He burned that bridge long ago." Unconsciously her hand reached up and touched her face before she jerked her hand down angrily.

Lee couldn't help looking at her, even that small puff of anger made her seem if possible more beautiful to him. He'd always loved her, from the first moment he'd laid eyes on her. Loved her enough to see how much she loved Sasuke, and enough to stand aside if the Uchiha had been there to love her back. Even though he hadn't Lee had simply been there for Sakura while she struggled with her feelings and the growing realization that Sasuke's actions were his own.

"Sakura..?" She turned back toward him, her anger fading quickly. "Can I get you something to eat? You must be hungry after all."

At first it seemed that she might decline, but finally she nodded. "That would be nice Lee." She took his arm and he led them away from the hospital toward her favorite restaurant. He didn't even try to erase the smile from his face. This was the time of his youth, and he wasn't about to let anything steal this moment of happiness from him.

-MLE


	5. Chapter 5: Back into Captivity

Once again he'd screamed himself horse, thinking that like always before Naruto would be unable to ignore him, but this time... This time Naruto left him. Sasuke stared uselessly at the bars he now knew lay only a hand's reach from him. Anger and bitterness rolled through the hard knot of his stomach, and he shook his wrists in their chains just to hear the sound. To feel the reminder of captivity against his raw flesh. Someone had wrapped his wrists in bandages while he'd been unconscious last time. Because he'd rubbed the flesh from his wrists to the point of bleeding. He'd mocked their false humanity in the hours after his waking, and now the bandages were falling apart once more; he couldn't stop fighting these bonds.

It wasn't long after Naruto left that he heard the sounds of footsteps coming toward his cell, and he laughed. His laughter deep and mocking. "I knew you couldn't stay away." Sasuke's voice barely sounded like itself. Horse and dry.

A voice spoke quietly, and he heard the sound of a set of footsteps retreating; the other continued toward his cell. It was the sound of those footsteps that surprised him. Slow, graceful, and confident. Not Naruto's. His eyes blinked in surprise as the torch bloomed to life, showing him Gaara's face, not Naruto's.

The two men stared at one another. The silence stretching out as they measured one another. Neither one seemed uncomfortable with the silence, but as it grew Sasuke could feel his anger rising. Why was HE here? To mock him silently? Though there was no judgement in Gaara's cold eyes, Sasuke's own irrational anger couldn't stand that weighing gaze. The longer Gaara remained silent the more Sasuke wanted to reach out and hurt him; make him say _something_.

"You were expecting Naruto." Gaara finally said simply, his words not truly a question and the quietness of his voice easing through the silence. Sasuke could feel the anger slowly leak away from him, all but the burning flame which endured endlessly in the back of his mind.

"Yes." His voice was not so calm as Gaara's, it was laced with the edge of his lost anger and hissed out of him in an admission which only served to refuel his ever-present hatred.

Gaara blinked slowly. "It seems that you have yet to regain yourself Sasuke Uchiha." He tilted his head slightly to the side, his eyes hadn't for a moment stopped weighing Sasuke. "Yet Naruto still believes he can save you."

Sasuke smiled wryly, a twisted expression barely worthy of being called a smile. "You think differently?" His eyes found Gaara's, darkly boring into those blue eyes. They offered only his own reflection back to him; an image that made his anger flare white hot. "I don't need him to save me! He's a fool!"

Smoothly Gaara moved toward him, though the motion was almost slow he was quite suddenly standing before Sasuke; invading his personal space. Not that Sasuke could do anything but glare at him impotently. This close to him Sasuke could see just a touch of anger at the edge of Gaara's eyes. "You are the fool Sasuke. A fool to think that he fails at any task he sets his mind to. And a much greater fool to think that you are in a position to insult him."

Gaara's hand was around his throat, choking off his air. Instinctively he gasped, body rigid with the need to breathe, but he fought against the instinct to fight Gaara. He held his body still, eyes burning with hate; daring that red-haired man to do it. Gaara lifted him up by his throat, until the chains that bound his ankles would allow him to rise no further. The world was starting to grow dark around the edges. Sasuke didn't care, he was fully determined to glare at Gaara until he was forced to loose consciousness.

"I know what is wrong with you Sasuke. I can see it in your eyes. You think that's anger you feel for me? You think you hate me?" His grip loosened just enough that Sasuke could get an edge of breath. Not enough to speak, not enough that he could move. Just enough that the darkness at the edge of his vision cleared a little. "Admit it Sasuke, you want to die. It's you that you hate, you that you have such burning anger for."

Sasuke felt something wet leak from the edge of his eye, and Gaara smiled just a little, drawing close so that his lips were right at Sasuke's ear.

"Does it kill you Sasuke to know that he loves you this much? I would kill you in a heart-beat. I would grant you that mercy and he torments you with his caring." The soft warmth of Gaara's cheek touched his own and Sasuke fell if possible more still. Gaara's words echoed in his mind. "I will find a way Sasuke. I will come here every day to feed you and tend your wounds. I will keep you alive until I find a way to love you as he does." Gaara drew back until his blue eyes could meet once more with Sasuke's dark ones. "Because you deserve it. You deserve to live with what you have done. To Sakura, to Naruto, and to us all."

Suddenly Gaara let go of him, turning away quickly even as Sasuke fell in his chains, smooth even footsteps fading with the light of the torch until he was alone again in his prison. Sasuke didn't bother to call after him. Alone, Sasuke cursed him silently.

How dare that man think he knew him so well. How dare he imply he knew the truth of Sasuke Uchiha! How dare he... How dare he.

Sasuke closed his eyes, drew his hand as far from the wall as he could reach and brought it smashing back as hard as he could against the stone. The range gave him little strength, the angle terrible, but given time he might be able to break his thumb and free his hand from the shackle. That, that would be his first step toward freedom. The sharp crack echoed quietly around him, and he tasted blood in his mouth were he'd bitten down on his own lip. Naruto, Gaara. They were both fools. They should have killed him when they'd had the chance.

_CRACK_!

-MLE


	6. Chapter 6: Out! Into a New Dawn

Naruto yawned broadly, his hand idly covering his mouth. He blinked quickly, and shuffled back and forth impatiently, watching Tsunade from beneath his hair. He looked at her and she wrote something on a piece of paper before her. He watched, scribble, scribble, scribble. He frowned and she wrote on, seemingly oblivious to him and to the fact that he was standing here tired and impatient with doing nothing. If he was going to be up this early in the morning, he would much rather be in Neji's hospital room checking to see how he was doing. In fact, it was a little surprising that Tsunade wasn't there herself.

"Gr..." He started speaking, but she looked up slowly at the first sound, and it died on his lips. He'd never seen her look so serious! For just a moment longer she looked at him, as if to ensure that he would remain silent before returning to her writing. The very fact that she did that only made him want to talk more, find out what was going on.

Thankfully the doors to the room opened revealing Tsunade's assistant Shizune entered followed closely by Lee and Tenten. Lee grinned when he saw Naruto, but Tenten was much more reserved, far more than was usual. Though Naruto was sometimes considered rather unobservant, even he could tell that neither of them had gotten much sleep last night. Then again, he hadn't either.

"Naruto!" Lee said brightly, clapping a hand on his friends shoulder, and Naruto couldn't help but smile back. Then blinked in surprise when Lee leaned in close to him, whispering so loudly that he might as well have yelled it out. "Any ideas why we're here?"

Naruto shook his head, glancing toward Tsunade who was watching them with a somewhat wry expression. She didn't bother saying anything, and a moment later Kakashi entered the room as well. Kakashi was the first person that Naruto had seen that didn't look like he'd just been woken up or had spent most of the night awake.

Tsunade sighed, lowering her pen and looking at the group assembled before her. "I'm sure that you've all heard about Neji. Before anything else, you should know that he remains in a stable condition, but hasn't woken up yet." She decided not to mention that it would likely be a few days before he was fully conscious. "He and Kiba left the village on an unauthorized mission to rescue Hanabi Hyuga who was kidnapped in the course of her own mission."

"Bu!" Naruto exclaimed jumping to the defense of his friends only to have her give him the very look which had shut him up only moments before. He fumed silently, irked that she had silenced him. Normally he'd just bull through and say what he was thinking but... There was something in that look that even he didn't dare ignore.

"I know what your about to say Naruto, and it isn't necessary. Unauthorized though their actions might have been, I can not fault them. According to Kiba's report Hanabi was already dead when they arrived." She paused just a moment, there were some expressions of shock, but most people in the room already knew this news. Still she gave them a moment, it was one thing to hear, another to have it confirmed. "Neji and Kiba attacked those who kidnapped her and took down a few of their members. Two of them severely injured Neji, and when he lost consciousness Kiba retreated with him. During this time the two men escaped."

"So, we're going after them!" Naruto said, his voice tinged slightly with excitement. When he got his hands on those men...

Tsunade nodded. "But do NOT engage them." She looked at Kakashi steadily. "Wait for an opening. The priority in this mission is... recovery." She looked less than pleased with what she was saying. "Having said that, if you can capture them..." Tsunade stood and nodded. "Head out immediately, it goes without saying that you are in charge of this mission Kakashi."

Kakashi nodded, taking her words as a dismissal. "Lets go then." His one eye took in the younger ninja, and they all followed him as he left the room.

"Don't worry Grandma, they won't get away with this; believe it!" He gave her a smile and his customary thumbs-up before he too followed Kakashi from the room.

For some time Tsuade watched the door the group had left from. On one hand there were so many things she wanted to say to them, but most of them had already been said to Kakashi who was the only one who really needed to know. On the other she was worried. She of all people knew how volatile that group was, and Kakashi would have his hands full keeping only Naruto under control much less Lee too. She had faith in Naruto but she couldn't shake the terrible feeling that she felt concerning this entire situation.

Suddenly she rose to her feet, slamming her fists down on her battered desk. "I'm going out!" She gave her assistant a firm look, and the woman looked back at her tiredly.

"But Lady Tsunade..."

"I need a break!"

"You need to check in on Neji..." Shizune smiled at her with understanding, her eyes nervous.

Tsunade headed toward the door resolutely. "Break first, THEN I'll check on Neji. The medical staff assigned to him will let me know if I'm needed. Come on Shizune, you need a break too..."

They walked from the room still arguing about which would come first. The sound of their voices echoing in the room long after they left. It seemed almost hollow in their wake. Not even a breeze to shift the papers and photos left strewn across Tsunade's desk. Only silence and the the growing shadows before the sun finally rose.

-MLE


	7. Chapter 7: Waiting to Wake

He was waiting with seemingly endless patience. When the light of the rising sun peaked through the crack in the curtains it did not even faze him. He only waited still, watching patiently the closed eyes of the boy... young man who lay on the bed before him. He watched the rise and fall of breath, listened carefully to it's rhythm and waited. Tsunade had told him long before not to expect Neji to wake any time soon. Yet he couldn't leave. Others thought that now of all times he should be with his wife, or perhaps with the daughter that remained to him, but they could not understand. Could not understand what drove him to sit here unblinkingly, waiting for a boy who might not wake.

Unconscious like this Neji looked almost peaceful if one could discount the bandages and bruises which covered his body. The proof that he had fought long and hard, nearly to his own death for the daughter of the head of his clan. Though he did not say such things Hiashi Hyuuga knew quite well what the young man thought of his position inside the clan, their words together at the Chunin Exams had been proof of that. Yet Neji had never once balked in the face of his duty. Never once. He had fought this hard against those who hurt their clans, nearly dying himself to protect Hiashi's own daughter who by all accounts had already been dead. What more could he ask for from the son of his own twin brother?

The boy... young man Hiashi reminded himself a bit firmly, stirred a bit, drawing his attention. He could admit to himself that a part of him wanted to touch Neji, comfort him in whatever dreams bothered Neji's unconscious mind. Yet this was not his way, so he only waiting. Surprise touching his pale eyes only slightly when Neji's eyes opened. The young man's breathing quickened, and Hiashi stood, drawing Neji's attention with his presence.

"You are in the hospital now." His voice was as calm as it ever was, firm but without the usual firmness which usually colored his voice. Neji stirred again, still ill at ease, opening his mouth as if to speak, but Hiashi cut him off. "Kiba is well. Hanabi..."

Neji turned his eyes away from the man who was the head of his clan, unable to bear looking at the man. Tears of anger, frustration, and pain touching his eyes; but he did not let them fall. His breath came painfully and short. It burned with each tiny motion, but he welcomed the pain. It was the least he felt he deserved for his failure. His mind kept flashing back to fractured images of the battle, fire, blades cutting in from every direction... Hanabi... laying on the ground her face turned away from him her skin so pale and bloodless that even from a distance he'd known that she was dead. "I'm sorry..."

Neji's words were so quite that Hiashi could barely hear them. "Neji." This time his tone was more firm, firm enough to make Neji look at him. "You nearly died to avenge my beloved daughter. I could not ask more of you. I do not."

"U-Uncle..." He pushed his tears further back. He was a man, no longer a boy to let his tears fall where they may.

"You have proven time and again your skill, your mastery of the Hyuuga clan's secret techniques. One day Neji, one day not to distant I think, you will surpass me." He watched the young man blink in surprise at his words. "You who are my brothers son... Though I can not lift the curse mark upon your brow, you are the true heir of the Hyuuga clan."

"I-I..." Neji tried to find the words, but between his pain and his surprise he did not know what to say.

"Save your words Neji. Our clan, particularly in times like this is in great need of strength like yours." The man drew near to Neji's bed, his hand lightly resting on the edge. "We have much to talk about, you and I. Not now, but later when you are feeling better. Get your rest for now and heal." He lifted his hand and took a step away from the bed. It was obvious that he wanted to say more, but he turned his back on the young man and headed for the door.

"I'm sorry." The broken words barely made it past his lips, but he was determined.

His uncle stilled, but did not turn back. "No Neji, guilt and mourning will not help us now. The Hyuuga clan will move forward."

At that moment Tsunade came through the door, her face touched with surprise at the sight of Neji awake. She turned to look at the head of the Hyuuga clan accusingly, but he was already gone; disappeared through the door. She shook her head slowly. "It's good he came to check on you, but you shouldn't even be conscious yet. He didn't wake you did he?"

Neji slowly and carefully shook his head negatively, his eyes watching the woman as she checked him over thoroughly. Less distracted now, he could feel the effect of medicine on his body. Something strong to make him feel this weak, this disoriented. Whatever it was though it kept him from feeling whatever pains his body might be making. Blankets covered his injuries from his sight. Idly some portion of his brain realized that he hadn't been covered before, at least not entirely, but he couldn't remember when the blanket had covered him. If he hadn't had so much of it in him, he would have found it far more annoying that it had slowed his thinking down so much.

"Lady Tsunade?" His voice was soft, and slow, and her face appeared over him.

"Hush Neji, whatever it is, it can wait until you wake up again." She pulled away, and he didn't even think of stopping her, after all; the world was quite comfortingly disappearing into whiteness...

Tsunade watched for a moment longer as Neji fell asleep. She almost didn't believe what her medical skills were telling her. He was far more healed than he should have been after a battle like that, and the little they had been able to do for him after. Really, she hadn't been entirely sure that he would survive at all, and here he was waking up the next day. She would have called it a downright miracle, but this had been happening more and more recently. Someone healing from injuries faster than they should have, and all of them had only one thing in common. Sakura.

Smoothly Tsunade headed out of the room, handing her findings to one of the medical ninja who was overlooking Neji's condition and left the hospital entirely. It was time she had a talk with Sakura about this directly. She needed to know exactly what that young woman was doing. It didn't seem to have any adverse side effects yet, but it might with some conditions, and if it didn't... then it was a technique that she herself wanted to learn.

-MLE

I'd like to apologize for my long absence between this section and the last. Holidays and other fun things in life have kept me far to long, not to mention that I had a surprising amount of difficulty with this part; and I'm not sure why. The next few should be easier for me, and hopefully that means they will come more quickly as well. At the very least, for your viewing pleasure you have this. Ah, I look forward to the many surprises that I have yet to reveal!


	8. Chapter 8: Blind to What We Need

Time passed, that relentless sound his only companion. Just as he thought, the angle was terrible, and his efforts to break his thumb against the stone behind him were proving to be more difficult than he had at first anticipated. His anger drove him forward. Drove him until his hand was numb with pain and finally bone gave way to stone and steel. Stubbornly he bore the stabbing pain by biting his lip, the taste of his own blood far less important to him than the fact that this pain was the symbol of his freedom.

More gently he slipped his hand through the cuff which had bound it above his head. His whole arm ached from being held that way for so long. Sasuke moved his arm back and forth, reminding it of what it was meant to do. With the light gone he could not examine his hand. It would have to wait until he freed himself entirely. Worse was that whoever had put him here had obviously searched him well.

Summoning his concentration however, and a moment later he drew a lock pick out from between his lips. He left his eyes closed, picking at the lock by feel. Waiting patiently for the subtle sensations against his fingers that told him he was close... The tiny click that released his breath in a quiet sigh. From there it was easy enough to release the shackles around his feet. Sasuke took another breath, his body ached all over from confinement. A small step forward nearly took his breath away again, but he bore the pain. A small price to be free.

"I warned them that they should keep a closer eye on you." The sound of that voice, that smooth calm voice drew his head up, his eyes flickering with anger. Gaara... again. His arms crossed over his chest those cold blue eyes looking down at him as though the red-head knew every thought which crossed his mind.

"Did you think they... that you could hold me forever?" His voice was tight, his fragile control fading now that he was free, now that he could set it loose once again. Even as he thought of it he tried to focus his chakra focused into the palm of his hand. Nothing.

"Trouble?" Gaara asked calmly.

Sasuke let out a primal sound before attacking the infuriatingly calm man before him.

* * *

Knock, knock. Tsunade waited patiently at the door, and soon enough Sakura opened it, a small smile forming on her face. As always Tsunade tried to smile back, but failed. She hadn't been able to look at Sakura without feeling sorrow, pity, and failure. It was something that all of them, all of those who cared about the girl felt. Ever since Sasuke... Just the memory made Tsunade's hand tighten into a fist, made her tighten that anger and regret into a smile. As smile for Sakura, even if the girl couldn't see it anymore.

* * *

Sasuke couldn't help the sound of pain and frustration which escaped him. He was held two feet off the ground in a prison of sand controlled by Gaara. The red-head didn't even show any strain at the effort, just those cool blue eyes and that steady hand held out in his direction. He glared back, daring Gaara with his eyes to finish what had been started. Like this... Gaara could have crushed him in an instant; he had no control over his chakra with which to defend himself.

"Your not like Naruto and the rest of them... end this! I'm not going to stop." Something flickered in those blue eyes at his accusation, but as Gaara seemed to know him; he knew something of Gaara as well. The man might pretend that he was like Naruto and the others, but Sasuke could sense the darkness in him. A demon waiting to be free.

"I already told you Sasuke, that would be to easy. You are going to pay for what you have done. Your right. I could kill you easily. But it's harder to live Sasuke Uchiha." Gaara paused for a moment, unswayed by the deathly glare the dark haired man had steadily leveled in his direction. "You are in no position to argue; with your chakra locked away." A cold dark smile touched just the edge of Gaara's lips.

A trickle of realization flickered through Sasuke's eyes, and he deflated slightly even as the fire of his anger burned more brightly in his eyes. "So, this is part of how the Leaf intended to keep me prisoner. It doesn't matter. They can't keep me locked away forever. I WILL escape."

"You are right Sasuke. Which is why you are going to come with me. Even without your chakra your skills can be of use to the Leaf, and locked up... well you are not any good to anyone that way. So you are going to come with me." That cold smile flickered a touch wider before it vanished entirely. "And that way I can keep an eye on you as well."

Sasuke stared at Gaara the plan was mad. The moment the man's back was turned Sasuke would kill him. They both knew it. Why take him out at all? To help? As if Sasuke had any desire left to help the Leaf Village. "Why?" Suspicion laced that single word.

"I told you why Sasuke. I give you the chance to walk down that path. I will force you if necessary to watch yourself let it pass you by time and again until your will is worn down and you realize the folly of your anger." Gaara was silent for a long moment, and when he spoke again it was more quietly. "No, you have already learned the folly of your anger have you not Sasuke Uchiha? But not the lesson you were meant to learn. It is time you relearned the lesson you should have learned... when you stole sight from the woman who loved you."

Gaara coldly turned his back on Sasuke, but did not leave him alone. His shifting sands carried the oddly quiet Uchiha behind him.

* * *

"Lady Tsunade, I wasn't expecting you." Sakura said, opening the door a bit more so that her teacher could enter. Tsunade blinked in surprise at her words, realizing that she had been staring a bit to long at Sakura's white eyes. Once they had held a beautiful color, but... no more.

Tsunade shook herself and grinned, entering the apartment in her usual nearly jovial manner. "I came to talk to you about Neji's condition."

"He's okay isn't he?" Sakura asked worriedly, closing the door and heading across her apartment with a smooth easy grace. No one would have guessed from the way she moved that she couldn't see the furniture laid out through the apartment. After so much time... All those hard hours spent learning the hard way, Sakura had adjusted surprisingly well considering the circumstances.

"Surprisingly well actually." Tsunade plopped down on the couch and watched Sakura make her way around the kitchen, setting a tea pot on the stove. Tsunade might have asked if she could help, but it was both outside her nature, and Sakura wouldn't have let her anyway. It seemed that loosing her eyesight had given the girl some of the stubbornness which she might have been lacking before. "That's why I'm here actually." Sakura turned toward her and the two women almost seemed to be looking at one another until silently Sakura moved across the room seating herself across from Tsunade. "What exactly DID you do to Neji Sakura?"

There was a long silence between the two women, but it was not entirely uncomfortable. Tsunade had no desire to press Sakura, but she did need to know. "I... I was wondering when you would notice..." The young woman admitted finally, her voice very quiet.

"I actually noticed the trend some time ago. Every case you've helped with in the last few months has resolved much more quickly than it should. Especially the cases where the injuries are mostly physical. What are you doing differently?" Though she tried to contain herself, she couldn't keep the interest out of her voice, and couldn't help leaning forward expectantly waiting for Sakura's reply. But the girl sighed and shook her head slowly.

"I... I don't know exactly. It's strange I know!" She seemed adamant, but Tsunade frowned, especially when the tea rang out and Sakura went to retrieve it; silent until it was poured. "At first... after... I was so..." She had to pause remembering how despondent she'd been back then. She'd gone days without eating or sleeping. Thinking that she'd never be able to go out on a mission again. That... She would never see Sasuke's face, or Naruto's, or anyone's. That her life... was over.

"I remember... Lee was a real blessing for us." Tsunade was a bit disheartened herself at the memory, but couldn't help but smile at the light blush that came over Sakura at the mention of Lee's name. It had been Lee... his constant support of Sakura that had really brought her back. Naruto had been there of course, but no one had been as supportive as the ever energetic Lee. Lee who had brought her meals every day. Swearing to do absurd things if he could not get her to eat, doing push-ups in the corner for support when she was trying to learn the layout of her apartment all over again. Then laughing and doing something else when she'd tripped over him. Without his laughter, support, and constant upbeat attitude... she might never have come out of her darkness.

"Anyways... I just... A few months ago when I was walking through the hospital... helping out where I could..." Tsunade nodded out of habit, silently urging the girl to continue. She could remember this. She'd encouraged Sakura to continue her work as a medical ninja. Anyone could bandage wounds and help out here and there and Sakura had needed the direction. "I realized that when I used my chakra to help start healing someone... I could SEE them. I could see what was wrong. I could see their chakra and mine. Hinata has always talked to me you know about how her Byakugan can see chakra, an d... I imagine it's something like that, but it's different too." She sighed again. "I'm sorry I just can't explain it."

Tsunade's fingers veritably itched to check the girl out. To see if she could find some medical reason for why Sakura could suddenly see the lines of chakra. Sakura... The girl was the best student, far more than she could have ever thought of asking for. Before she'd become Hokage she would never have even thought of teaching someone, much less having a student so apt to learn. She'd always suspected that some day Sakura might outdo her. "There's no need to apologize Sakura... Actually I thought you had been using some new technique and was worried it might not work for some reason... I never suspected something like this. Really..." She smiled a little to herself, finally touching the tea which Sakura had brought her. "I'm glad that some small good thing could come out of all of this. Maybe we should keep it to ourselves for now though... It might not be good for you... I'll have to start keeping an eye on you when your doing it."

Sakura blushed suddenly, and Tsunade looked at her curiously. "A-actually... Lee already knows..." Sakura coughed lightly into her hand, looking so embarrassed that Tsunade couldn't help smiling.

"I see... well if we talk to him I'm sure he will keep it to himself. Just until I'm sure this isn't affecting you badly."

"O-of course Lady Tsunade." Sakura nervously tucked a stray bit of hair behind her ear and tried to hide her embarrassment behind her tea. It had grown quite long again now that she had been so long away from missions. She'd taken something of a habit of using it to hide eyes which as often as not seemed to make those around her uncomfortable. "T-Tsunade..."

"Yes Sakura?" She leaned back more comfortably on the couch, thinking to herself that keeping Sakura company would not be such a terrible way to avoid the mountain of paperwork which seemed to follow her around.

"Is it true? Did Naruto... really catch him?"

A long pause fell between them, and Tsunade felt this one; her tea cup paused within a breath of her lips. Finally she sighed slightly, taking a drink and forcing herself to look at Sakura steadily. She should have known this question was coming. "Yes."

"Ah... I see..." Sakura took a long hesitant breath. Tsunade couldn't read any expression on her face at all. "Has the... has there been any decision about what to do with him?"

"Not yet." Tsunade placed the cup on the table again. "What about you Sakura? You've never talked about it... not that I've seen. Even Hinata and Ino say you never talk about him anymore... I know..." Tsunade sighed at her own beating around the bush, but she knew that Sakura had loved Sasuke.

Sakrua smiled. "I loved him. I loved him so much that..." She shook her head. "I think some part of me will always love him. But he's never loved me." The girl ran a finger over her cheek, just beneath her eye. "It was so selfish of me. I wanted to make him love me... and I couldn't let him go and... I should have. Even when he did this... the first thought I had was that I hoped he'd gotten away okay." A tear started to escape her eye, but she quickly wiped it away. She wasn't a little girl anymore. She wasn't even the same young woman that she'd been on that first day she'd woken up to a world grown dark. "I want him to be happy Tsunade. I really want him to be happy. Not just for me anymore but for him too. You know... after... Gaara came to me. He said that Sasuke was lost in the dark, just like I was. That neither one of us could find our way out using our eyes. Me, I think I've found my way. I've found it in those who love me, like you, Hinata, Ino, Naruto... and Lee." She smiled. "When you really love someone you have to let them go right? And hope that they find a way out into the light!"

What more could she say to that?

-MLE


	9. Chapter 9: Stalking Shadows

He couldn't have been more impatient if he were still stuck back at the Hokage's office watching Tsunade do paperwork! Naruto silently fumed as Kakashi stopped for what seemed like the millionth time since they'd started out. What could possibly be that interesting about footprints anyways? He tried to calm himself with the knowledge that Kakashi was his teacher, and that following the trail of the two men who had managed to put Neji in the hospital was important... But he'd NEVER stopped THIS many times in the course of tracking someone. Even though he'd been keeping as much of an eye out as he could, he hadn't seen any traps either, so he was left wondering silently what it was that had Kakashi stopping every few moments. Silently only because every time he started to open his mouth Kakashi gave him such a look with his one cold dark eye he left uncovered that even he had fifth and sixth thoughts about testing it. Wondering because the blasted Jounin wouldn't let him within three trees of the footprints they were following!

Naruto huffed in frustration, glancing over at Tenten who had been if possible even more silent than Kakashi this entire trip. She kept touching the bag which held her ready kunai, running her fingers over the scrolls he knew from experience teaming up with her could summon any number of deadly weapons. Lee at least seemed nearly as impatient as he. Sitting on the edge of his branch as far out as he could without falling off; and from Naruto's point of view that could change any moment. Yet... Even Lee was far more subdued than Naruto was used to. He let all of his frustration out in one long sigh. He knew why everyone was so tense. He felt the same way, but he felt like he had to do something!

It was then that a solution for his problem came to mind. Clear his mind, calm. He was just sitting here on this branch without moving anyway. If he took this opportunity to go into Sage mode, they might be able to track those two men all the faster! He wasn't sure why he, or Kakashi for that matter hadn't thought of this before! Who needed to follow footprints when he could follow THEM. Naruto closed his eyes resolutely, filled with a new sense of purpose. Almost immediately he could feel himself becoming one with the nature around him. With the branch and the starlight drifting through the branches; every time he did this it became easier and easier.

Suddenly a touch on his shoulder broke his concentration, and he opened his eyes. Kakashi? The Jounin slowly shook his head back and forth. Irritation came back to life in Naruto in a flash, but before he could open his mouth a dangerous glint came to Kakashi's eye. Another slower more firm shake of the head cooled Naruto's anger; for the moment. One might only be able to see one fourth of Kakashi's face, but when he chose to the Jounin could speak volumes without a word.

For the moment it seemed yet again they would be moving onward without an explanation. Silently trekking through the branches of the forest in yet another direction. Like every time before when Kakashi had stopped they had started out again in another seemingly random direction. Considering how many times they had stopped, zigged, and zagged, they hadn't actually managed to make it all that far from the spot where Neji had been found at all.

Just remembering seeing the aftermath of that battlefield made Naruto's skin crawl. Blood... far to much blood had covered the ground there. It hadn't made any sense to him at all. Kunai and other ninja battle tools had left their mark across the rocks and earth, long taken away by the Ambu Black Ops for investigation more than likely. Yet near as he could tell those tools accounted for barely a tenth of the blood spilled. Not surprising perhaps considering Neji's rotation style, which Naruto had seen some evidence of. But then, where had the blood come from? How had Neji been so badly injured? If only Kakashi would stop for five minutes and answer some of his questions!

As if in answer to his thought the Jounin came to a stop, signalling silently for the team to pull up behind him and stay in place; but to Naruto's dismay Kakashi again descended forward to the ground below and seemed to be studying it yet again!

Naruto couldn't take it anymore. He hopped over to where Lee sat trying to get a better view of what Kakashi was looking at and sidled closer to the other young man. "Hey, Lee!" The other boy looked at him in surprise, glancing at Kakashi as if to check and see if the Jounin had heard, and Naruto checked too. They were in the clear at least for the moment. "You've got to be able to tell me SOMETHING about these guys right?" Lee looked doubtful. "I mean... Neji's on your team, I can't even figure out how he got hurt like that!"

Lee glanced at Kakashi again, but was reassured to see that he seemed entirely preoccupied with whatever he was looking at down there. "I do not know either Naruto! Neji is a splendid ninja, and his skills with his rotation and his gentle fist... I do not see how any ninja tool could have gotten through his defenses. Yet Sakura said that Neji was covered in terrible cuts from head to toe! It can only be that our foe has some weapon which we have never seen before!..." Lee trailed off a bit, blushing a bit and looking away from Naruto. Naruto wondered when Lee had had a chance to talk to Sakura.

He opened his mouth to ask a few more questions, but nearly swallowed his tongue when his eyes met with Kakashi's. "Kakashi-Sensei!" He uttered in surprise, clapping his hands over his mouth before he could embarrass himself further.

Kakashi sighed. "We are going to take a break here, come down. Tenten is already setting up a quick perimeter."

"But Kakashi-Sensei, shouldn't we-"

"We are stopping here because I can tell that if I don't brief you and Lee I'm not going to get anywhere." Kakashi interpreted him, and Naruto swallowed what he'd been about to say uncomfortably. The two young men followed the Jounin down to the ground in silence, even Lee seemed embarrassed, but then; he'd been only a moment behind Naruto about to say the same thing.

They waited a bit longer in silence before Tenten returned, nodding to Kakashi that she'd finished her job. For some reason that Naruto didn't understand that made him feel all the more uncomfortable about the situation. "Eat while I talk, because we wont be stopping again." Naruto blinked in surprised, not sure that he could eat at a time like this; his stomach however replied it was more than willing to try. "You all know we've been trailing the two who made off after injuring Neji and Kiba. They've done a handy job covering their trail, but I'm pretty sure they know they are being followed because they are still trying to put us off their trail." Naruto started to interrupt him, but Kakashi ignored the younger ninja entirely. "We don't dare use other methods because we simply don't know enough about these ninja and their jutsu."

Kakashi looked at Naruto solidly, and the young man resolved to keep his mouth shut for the rest of the time Kakashi was talking. He could always ask his questions after. "Lee was right about how Neji was injured. He was covered in cuts, some of them were small, but many of them were quite large. The report says that some of the cuts appeared to have been torn. The medical ninja aren't sure how or why. That's one of the reasons you were assigned Tenten. If you see them carrying something you even suspect is a weapon, you need to tell me immediately. We'll be looking to your knowledge with ninja tools. If it wasn't a ninja tool that somehow got through Neji's defenses, then it was likely a Genjutsu. Which is why I was assigned to lead this mission." Kakashi didn't need to add that it was more likely a Genjutsu then anything else. If it was a Genjutsu however, they would be at a huge disadvantage. Which was the main reason this was a reconnaissance mission. With both Naruto and Lee along however... Kakashi knew from experience that he should expect the unexpected to arise.

"I expect you, ALL of you to keep your emotions in check and keep the mission in mind. We can't afford to let this turn into a brawl." He looked at the boy's again, Tenten had nodded her agreement, and after a moment Lee did as well albeit more slowly. Naruto seemed like he was going to disagree, but after glancing over and seeing Lee's expression... He sighed and nodded as well.

"Yes, Kakashi-Sensei."

"If they know that we're following them, we might not have a choice." Tenten looked up, her voice soft but carrying well.

Kakashi blinked at Tenten, then nodded. "That's true. If it comes to that... If we can not avoid a fight... We destroy them utterly." There was a cold dark light in Kakashi's eye that made Naruto shudder. He didn't say anything else to them, he simply stood up and led them silently back up into the trees. That same silence fell over the four of them, carrying them further and further toward the men that had so badly injured Neji and Kiba. Only once did Kakashi look back, glancing at the young people following him. He didn't like keeping information from them, but... Sometimes it came with the mission. Besides in this instance he knew it was better if they didn't know, if they never had to know.

Catching sight suddenly of something between the trees he signaled quickly to the others to stop, stopping himself just shy of the small clearing in the woods. He went very still, blending seamlessly into the shadows. There in the clearing were the two men who had escaped. He recognized them from the description that Kiba had sent to Tsunade through Akamaru. One was a very tall man, with very short black hair who wore a very close-fitting black long sleeved top and matching pants. At first glance the man seemed almost unremarkable, but there was something about his stance, something in his bright cat-green eyes that spoke of... insanity. He stood like a puppet drawn on strings. The other man who was much shorter by comparison if only to his much taller companion, he wore a close fitting red sleeveless shirt and black pants. Just from looking at him Kakashi could tell he was heavily armed. The bracers on his arms likely held throwing kunai, he wore a very long thin blade down his back, and Kakashi could see where several other tell-tale warning signs gave him reason to think other weapons were hidden. Yet nothing that either of the men carried looked unusual. What was more unusual was the fact that the two men simply stood there in the little clearing half looking at one another.

Kakashi turned toward his team, motioning for the boys to spread out a bit, but for Tenten to come to his side. Immediately the girl understood why she'd been called. For a long moment she observed the two men. Then she sighed and shook her head slowly. Kakashi could have cursed their bad luck. This whole mission would have been that much easier if they could have identified quickly the method that the enemy used. He watched the two men with suspicion, why were they just standing there?

-MLE


	10. Chapter 10: Secrets and Lies

After her conversation with Sakura, Tsunade had gone back to the hospital to check on Neji. To her surprise, she had found him awake, and to her ire; trying to walk around his room. A single glare had frightened him back to his bed where she'd given him a checkup. All of his wounds were healed nicely, and she figured after some rehabilitation he would be as good as new. So, despite her own concerns she decided to send him home to rest up there. In the hospital there was always some risk that he would catch some sickness, but she told him that he was on strict bed rest aside from the physical therapy she set up for him. He agreed quickly, thrilled to be getting out of the hospital so soon. He couldn't explain it himself how he'd healed so quickly. He could see when she changed his bandages the extent of his wounds, and as far as he could tell he had no right to be alive.

His body was covered in cuts, some light, some deep. There was a massive scarred that looked as though it had come from a hole in his shoulder that alone should have ended his life, and it was not the only wound. He'd taken a hard breath at the sight of his body, and hadn't breathed again even though Tsunade assured him that the scars would fade with successive treatments. It wasn't the scars... though perhaps it was them as well, it was how terribly close he'd come to death. He said nothing to Tsunade, he kept his thoughts to himself, but they remained.

Now he lay comfortably in his home, the quiet pressing in on him like a weight. He had nothing to do, no one to keep him company, and only those heavy thoughts lingering in the back of his mind. Though he tried not to be, he was an introspective sort of person, his thoughts always searching through himself to find the new way to push himself. Now that drive was clouded by doubt. He found himself staring out the doorway at the blue sky beyond. For himself, and for his clan he had pushed his own physical boundaries to the limit. The ninja wars now past had almost ended in his death as well, only by grace did he stand here now. And this time as well. Tentatively he touched the curse-mark which lay upon his head, once death had briefly freed him from the curse of his clan; but it was a freedom he had never known. A freedom he would never know in his life. No matter how high he flew, no matter what he achieved he would never be able to erase this mark.

He sighed and let his hand fall. Wondering just a little to himself, if perhaps...

The sound of light footsteps broke through his thoughts, instinctively tensing, looking for a weapon which he did not have. He was more surprised however by the sight of his visitor.

"U-Uncle!" He said, stuttering in surprise, suppressing a blush at his stumble. This was the second time he had stumbled speaking like this, and this time with far less reason. He started to stand, but his uncle made a motion with his hand indicating he should stay seated, and even joined him on the floor a moment later. For a moment, an uncomfortable silence passed between the two of them.

"First she chides me for possibly waking you, then she sends you home to recuperate?" A small tinge of amusement touched Hiashi's voice and face, the man looked out the doorway Neji had open, following the young man's line of sight. "I suppose you know that I have not come to visit you to talk of such things."

Neji glanced at his uncle. "Whatever you want to talk about, I would be honored to listen." He answered respectively, but he was curious. It wasn't like his uncle to come to his home, or even to talk to him at all.

"An unexpected event has taken place in my family; in the death of my daughter. She was my heir, and now I am without a proper one to take her place."

A trace flicker of anger flashed through Neji's eyes, and Hiashi did not miss it. "What about Lady Hinata? Is she not your daughter as well my lord?" His voice was half-choked by his effort to keep his anger reigned in, his words utterly polite because the situation demanded it. Still, he could not believe his uncle. Even at a time like this he was denying his daughter? His daughter who had given her everything to become a mighty warrior in her own right. Including her innocence a piece at a time.

There was another uncomfortable pause between them, and when Hiashi answered him, it was looking at the clear empty sky. "No. She is not." Neji coughed, his chest aching at the sudden startled movement. But before he could ask, his uncle was already explaining. "Before you were born, me and my wife made every effort to conceive a child..." It was obvious that he was remembering another time, and Neji listened though he did not understand. "But we could not. When you were born to my brother, it seemed then as though perhaps we would have no children at all. Hinata... her parents were ninja who died on a mission, and we took her in. Her family was from a distant branch, but my wife... She so wanted a child. So we took in Hinata, and we raised her as our own, we could not know that Hanabi would be born to us."

Neji was silent, his eyes wide as he looked at his uncle. It... explained so much. Why he had always treated Hinata as less, why Hanabi even though younger had been his heir. Yet even knowing this filled him with a certain rage. To lie to his whole family, the whole clan! And now, now that his lie fell about him he could not embrace it. He sought instead to somehow subvert it again? "If... If no one knows, why not let Lady Hinata be your heir? She has proven herself, more than proven herself worthy of the title."

Hiashi sighed. "What you must think of me. But the elders of the clan know. As do the elders of the village who made Hinata's adoption legal. By all rights you are the next in line to take over as the head of the clan." The man rose easily to his feet.

The young man felt like he'd taken a kunai to the chest. It... He'd never even dared to dream or imagine he might lead this clan. It was impossible. "Me?"

"Yes. The elders and I will undertake to remove the curse mark from your head, as the new heir, it would be unseemly for you to bear it any longer." Suddenly Hiashi turned, something bright in his eyes, something in the motion of his body which startled Neji. Yet the man seemed to take hold of himself once again. "Would it... surprise you, to know that I love my daughter Neji? There is... nothing that I would not do for my family, for this clan. And it pains me that she would be forgotten. That she learn that her place is not as she knows it."

"I don't understand." It was to much to quickly, his mind reeled with the impossibility of it all. That he could be, no, would be; free. That he might lead the clan which had kept him half prisoner his entire life.

"I have seen, with my own eyes how much you have done for this clan, you are not undeserving. I would not worry for it's future with you to lead us. But I want you to accept my daughter. I want you to take Hinata as your wife. Cement the ties broken by the moments between my birth and the birth of my brother. Give Hinata back the place in our family which she deserves."

Neji wanted to hate him, and did a little. To build such a lie and expect him to carry it now. Yet Hinata was like a sister to him. It would crush her to lose her family like this. "You should make her your heir and spite them. You should show them her power and ask them how she is NOT your daughter." For the second time in his life he found his strength against this man, his uncle who stood not unlike a spider in its web in the center of all the wrongness in his clan. "If it is to be my place, I will lead the clan... But do you not think that your daughter should choose the man she wishes to marry?" And how could he take that from her, knowing as he did how she loved Naruto?

"Arranged marriages are well known among the clan. We do it to keep the bloodline strong. Hinata will not question, she knows her duty for her family, and for her clan. It is for you to decide Neji, what you will do for them as well." Hiashi took two steps forward until he was standing just outside. "I will call on you again when your wounds have fully healed."

A few more steps and soon the man was out of sight, leaving Neji alone once more his thoughts. Not the same thoughts but new ones. New questions and soul searching to do. The young man's eyes found that waiting blue sky with a sigh, watching the song birds soar freely across the broad expanse of cloudless sky. An ounce of freedom, and another leash.

He closed his eyes trying to find solace in his own mind, but all that waited there were images of his battle. Of his blood raining down on the corpse of a little girl he had not been fast enough to save. Better chained down from the sky than dreams like those. He leaned his head against the wooden wall, not daring yet to close his eyes again. He would wait until he could keep them open no longer. Until weariness dragged him unwillingly down into the darkness.

-MLE

I should say here that in this Fanfic, that Hinata is only distantly related to Neji, and before anyone crucifies me for pairing them, that Neji hasn't made his decision yet. Also, you kind of have to admit that it makes sense as to why her father is so distant from her. =)


	11. Chapter 11: Faces Revealed, Rin & Kol

To much time had past, the two men in the clearing had barely moved at all, and already the sun was beginning to sink lower into the sky. The boy's were growing increasingly frustrated with the fact that they could not do anything. Naruto of course was the most obvious about his frustration. Kakashi had to admit that he was beginning to wonder what was going on himself. The two men were just standing there, as though they had no intention of leaving. He'd already peeked with his sharingan, and had little doubt that the men below were actually there. However they couldn't simply stand here forever.

Quickly he made a few motions to the boy's and Tenten, letting them know he was about to make a move, and Naruto grinned in relief. He was almost certain that the young man would have exploded if he'd been forced to wait much longer. Without warning Kakashi sent two kunai flying through the air toward the two men, immediately changing his location in case they sent an attack back. To his amazement the taller man easily caught both the kunai in a single hand. The motion was almost so fast that Kakashi missed it. One moment the kunai were flying through the air and the next they were in his hand, the man standing ever so slightly forward of his companion, a small smile upon his lips as he looked through the brush for the one who had sent them.

"He-ll-oo out there! Have you any other gifts for me?" The man waggled the kunai in the general direction where the kunai had come, strangely luminescent eyes flickering for a hint of tell-tale movement. He had a strange accent which Kakashi did not recognize.

As Kakashi had instructed, the clearing was suddenly filled with kunai, like a rain of metal they fell down. The dark man laughed and Kakashi lost sight of him. A moment later the clearing was silent once more, but when the dust cleared... The red-haired man stood untouched by the kunai, the larger stood before him quite a large number of the kunai dotting his form, but he was laughing. Almost playfully the man drew one of the kunai out of his body, licking the blade before tossing it to the ground with a flick of his wrist.

"Come, come! Surely you have a few more to spare. You have hardly scratched me!" The man laughed again, drawing more of the blades from his skin and dropping them with tiny clinks that echoed unnaturally through the clearing. Kakashi stared at the man. Not a single one of the kunai had hit a vital area, but the sheer number of them should have had the man on the ground, or... at the very least not laughing. Another blade hit the ground and Kakashi noticed that the blade was clean. Wisps of vapor rose from the blade, as though the man's blood had evaporated in the time between being inside his body and the earth. Indeed, if he looked carefully he could see thin lines of the same vapor rising from the man's body where he'd been wounded.

It was like Naruto's wounds when he used the nine-tailed fox demon's chakra. Except Kakashi knew that this man was not a Jinjuriki.

Like Kakashi, Naruto was staring at the two men down in the clearing. He might have expected them to run, or somehow escape their attack. He did no however expect them to stand there and let the kunai hit them. Or at least the taller man in front. There was something about that man that made Naruto's skin crawl. He didn't even have to look at Lee to know that he was thinking the same thing. That they couldn't let these men get away. He didn't have to glance at Kakashi to know that his teacher was silently willing him to keep his place.

Then he was rushing forward, his fist outstretched with a kunai he could hardly feel clenched within it. Lee was right at his side. The man's eyes widened slightly at the sight of the two young men entering the clearing, but it was only a single breath of surprise. Not an instant of fear, but a broad smile of anticipation as he caught Lee's foot and Naruto's fist, one in each hand. The man's smile widened. Naruto could only look at him in shock at the trickle of blood that ran between the man's fingers.

"Well, look what I have caught Rin." The man tightened his grip on Naruto's hand as he spoke, causing him to wince. The man was surprisingly strong, and in the same movement he twisted Lee's foot, sending the green-clad ninja spinning away. Lee easily caught himself only a few feet away, his own shock echoing Naruto's.

Behind the tall man his companion glanced almost tiredly around to look at Naruto. Naruto flicked his eyes toward him, trying to wrench his hand away, but the man had him pinned. The man blinked at him, his eyes shifting color in the light from blue to a sort of muddy red. The shift caused Naruto to blink, wondering if he had somehow imagined the man's eyes changing color's. "You used my name." His tone was flat and uninterested.

The tall man tightened his grip on Naruto's hand even further, destroying his shadow-clone in a puff of smoke, but rather than being interested the man turned away from the smoke toward his companion. "But I tried to call you Rouge, and you did not respond."

Lee glanced back into the forest where the real Naruto waited questioningly but Naruto didn't understand either. What kind of ninja turned his back on the enemy to talk about someone's name?

"Would you focus? That one in the green over there is going to attack you again." Lee started guiltily though he hadn't even had a chance to move yet. Then froze when he realized that the tall man was suddenly standing right behind him. Almost casually the man leaned onto Lee, laying his arm comfortably across the younger man's shoulders.

"As cute as they are, I do not think I would mind." The man laughed, tracing his fingers across the edge of Lee's face; immediately Lee swung his body around, his right leg flying up to find it's mark upon his much taller opponent's face. Languidly the man took hold of Lee's leg and then with speed that astonished everyone watching threw the young man into a tree. The man wiped a trickle of blood from his lip and licked it from his thumb as he slowly made his way back toward Lee. "See how popular I am Rin? He could not wait to try kicking me again."

With a yell Naruto attacked again, this time sending a group of three clones after the tall man, trying to distract him so that Lee could get back on his feet. Even while Naruto made his move, Kakashi slid his headband up; reflexively closing his natural eye so that it would not interfere with his sharingan. Immediately the his perception of the world shifted slightly. There were times when he wondered to himself which reality was closer to the truth. That which he saw every day, or that which his sharingan eye revealed to him. The tall man moved so fast that even with his sharingan at times it was difficult to keep up with his movements which were somehow languid and discordant. He met with Naruto's clones and threw them away with an ease that made Naruto's movements look clumsy.

Kakashi realized that Naruto's distraction wouldn't last long, and darted forward to check on Lee. The young man was still slumped against the tree looking a bit dazed. The trunk was half shattered, and if it had been another shinobi Kakashi would have been worried about broken bones or worse. Gently he laid a hand on the boy's shoulder, trying to get his eyes to focus on him. "Hey, Lee you alright there?"

Lee made a sound, shaking his head slowly from left to right, but Kakashi thought it was more to clear his vision than to indicate that he was seriously injured. "His hits have the great power of youth in them Kakashi-sensei." Lee grinned crookedly. It seemed the boy might get back on his feet, but Kakashi was distracted by movement behind him.

The other man, Rin had drawn a bit closer to them. Naruto was distracted too, allowing this other enemy to draw closer while Kakashi had been preoccupied. The man stopped, almost as though he realized that he had caught Kakashi's attention and that had been his intention all along. This close Kakashi could see as the man's eyes shifted colors slowly from their previous color of a sort of muddy red to a nearly luminous green. THAT was definitely not natural, but as far as Kakashi could tell there was no genjutsu at work obscuring reality.

"You're an interesting one aren't you?" The man asked, the bored expression he'd had on his face this entire time shifting to one of interest. Yet at the same time it seemed to Kakashi as though the man were not actually looking at him. "That's a sharingan eye isn't it? But it's not yours." The man lifted his hand, and acting on instinct Kakashi rolled to his left. He wasn't sure why, but his instincts were screaming that he did not want that man's hand pointed at him.

At the same time Lee climbed to his feet, the last of his dizziness fading quickly. That attack had been strong, at least as strong as any that his own teacher Guy had ever thrown. Lee knew from experience that that sort of strength was something that took years to obtain, but the man's movements were unlike anything he'd ever seen. For the moment at least, Naruto had him distracted, and so Lee turned his dark eyes toward the other man. Rin turned toward Kakashi, ignoring the younger ninja coolly, and Lee frowned. He waited half a moment as the red-haired enemy took a step toward Kakashi, lifting his hand again which again caused Kakashi to move suddenly and Lee leaped forward, thinking to attack the man while his attention was on Kakashi.

Rather than his fist hitting Rin however, he found his hand caught in the vice-like grip of the other tall man who had moved with such speed that Lee had not even seen him move. The last of Naruto's clones dissipated into a cloud of white smoke and Lee's eyes widened, his heartbeat quickening in expectation of attack.

"My young green friend, I must warn you. I am the jealous sort. If you ignore me, it will cause no end of trouble." The man smiled almost gently.

Their teamwork was flawless, their trust in one another despite some tension complete. Rin hadn't even blinked, had made no effort to stop Lee. Almost as though he had known that his companion would stop Lee. And they were powerful. Fast, and if Lee had his guess they still had tricks that they had not used. "Who are you?" The young man asked angrily, tugging at the hand he could not free, then throwing his other fist at the man's face.

Easily the man caught this one too, using his new-found leverage to draw Lee uncomfortably close. As he spoke, Lee couldn't help noticing that his breath smelled of blood. Old blood, new blood, the smell of flesh and copper. "I thought you would never ask. I, am Kol." Suddenly the man bit down onto Lee's neck and the young man screamed.

-MLE

In mind a memory,

Of a time and place,

We were meant to be.

Me to you,

And you to me;

Together here at least,

Bound in symmetry.

-MLE


End file.
